RICHARD HATCH, THE COLONIAL FATHER OF US ALL AND WHAT REMAINS OF GALACTICON
On the weekend of July 31st through August 2nd, 2015, Seattle Washington and the rest of the science fiction convention world saw first hand what the Battlestar Galactica Community is all about as the once proud flagship convention pertaining to the now 37 year old Battlestar Galactica franchise, known as Galacticon, rose from the ashes of potential failure to a level of mitigated success.
The fact of the matter is that Galacticon 4’s promoters dropped the ball in a major way, with the real losers standing to be not the uninvited celebrities, nor the vendors (although they were admittedly caught in the middle and did suffer financial loss); but rather the true losers were the very special community of Battlestar Galactica fans, who are legion in both their number and love for Glenn Larson’sopus.
Galacticon’s issues began to publicly become apparent on social media about a week or so before the convention was to begin, as one by one; many Battlestar Galactica and related science fiction celebrities confirmed they would not appear at Galacticon. And with each cancelation, more air seemed to escape from the bated breath of the very large community of BG fans all over the country and indeed the world, as the fans had been patiently waiting to come together and celebrate their favorite space operaBattlestar Galactica for two years since the last Galacticon in Houston Texas in 2013.
Now no one can really blame the Battlestar Galactica celebrities both past and present, who made their decisions not to attend the bi-annual Colonial celebration in this year, as each and every one of these personalities did what they thought best in order to support each other and indeed to protest the potentially questionable business practices of Galacticon’s management.
And to be fair, there were still a good number of Battlestar Galactica celebrities from both the new and old series who still chose to attend the show such as Michael Trucco, Leah Cairns, Terry Carter, Jack Stauffer, Anne Lockhart, Sarah Rush, Luciana Carro, along with both Lee Stringer, Eric Chu. By the same token, while both Nicki Clyne and Aaron Douglas did choose to boycott the show, both actors still decided to make free appearances in the Seattle area so as to specifically benefit their fans. And to be sure, the Battlestar Galactica community shall not forget the dedication and commitment of the BGcelebrities who made the effort to honor the spirit of Battlestar Galactica and its most precious resource, the fans.
Likewise, it would be inexcusable to forget the contributions of the Galacticon administrative and support staff along with all of the convention’s volunteers, security and related personal including all of the shows much appreciated vendors and exhibitors, as well as the other non Battlestar Galacticacelebrities who still attended the convention. Credit must be given and these contributions acknowledged as all of these individuals rose to the occasion, smiled when they must have felt like screaming and for doing all they could to make Galacticon as special as possible for all of those fans who still came out to celebrate in Colonial fashion all things Battlestar Galactica.
What now remains however in the wake of this convention are the tattered remnants of Galacticon along with any future Battlestar Galactica conventions remaining in an unknown limbo. The question now becomes; who among the convention or fan community will step up to help lead this rag-tag community of friends and fans of Battlestar Galactica? It may be that the answer to this question has at least in part, been staring the BG community right in the face.
From the very beginning of Galacticon’s implosion and continuing through out all of the confusion and convention drama, one voice above all of the others seemed to remain steady, optimistic and conciliatory. This would be Richard Hatch (who played Captain Apollo in the original series, as well as Tom Zarreck in the reimagined series), as time and time again Richard addressed the Battlestar Galactica fans and community via social media throughout the week leading up to the show, while working tirelessly behind the scenes to do all that could be done so as to ensure that there would at the very least be one more Galacticon.
Richard Hatch for instance said the following via social media on July 29, “Well, everyone, I don’t have a clue about the current state of the convention as of yet but I have my ticket and will be heading up to Seattle tomorrow morning. So, I’m going. Not sure who else might be brought back but one way or the other lets all find a way to have fun and enjoy the weekend. The truth is a convention, when you get down to it is all about the people and we are the people, so do what we do best and that’s have fun!!!”
Richard then went on to also say, “I know this has been a crazy up and down process leading up to the event and I understand how frustrating this has been believe me, but lets all put our judgment aside for the time being, pull together and give this event a chance to succeed. Once the dust has settled down the road we can assess what went right and what needs to be improved who we need to address our concerns to. Look forward to seeing all of you still attending up in Seattle!“
By all accounts Richard Hatch did all that he could both publically as indicated above as well as behind the scenes, to in fact save Galacticon. And he did this it would seem for one compelling reason and one alone; because he sees the beauty inherent within the Battlestar Galactica fan’s heart and above all else, because Richard Hatch loves the fans back just as much as we love him.
